--- Glenn Morton <glenn.morton@btinternet.com> wrote:
> [...]
> Indeed, preliminary analysis suggests that the Neandertal and
> early modern
> human inhabitants of Grotte XVI behaved in much the same way:
> in both cases,
> small groups of hunters seem to have used the cave for only
> short periods
> before moving on, and both hunted the same kinds of animals.
> In fact, both
> groups appear to have fished extensively, judging from the
> abundant remains
> of trout and pike, among other species. This finding is
> particularly
> interesting because Neandertals are not generally assumed to
> have made use
> of aquatic resources. Furthermore, Simek reports, Neandertals
> may have even
> smoked their catch, based on evidence of lichen and grass in
> the Mousterian
> fireplaces. Such plants don't burn particularly well, Simek
> says, but they
> do produce a lot of smoke. "People don't tend to think of
> Neandertals as
> using fire in very complex ways," he remarks, "and they did."
> [...]